Archive By Section - Letters to the editor

The recent tragic incidents on Lake Lanier have brought on significant media attention and has increased the conversation among the public and local and state authorities on "how to make Lake Lanier more safe."

Like most everyone, I have basically worked since I have been able. Starting on my uncle's tobacco farm at the age of 12 and moving up to a dishwasher at our local steakhouse by the age of 15, I have always clearly understood that in order to draw a paycheck, one has to work.

I marvel at the Obamanites as they dance, squirm, and do all sorts of linguistic gymnastics to avoid having the Obamacare labeled a tax. It was extremely difficult to hold my lunch, last Sunday, while watching Obama's chief of staff, Jack Ludicrous, dodge the bullets Chris Wallace fired at him on Fox News. His nose grew a foot before the interview was over.

As mayor of Gainesville, I served on the District 2 roundtable and was a member of the five-person executive committee that selected the regional transportation projects to be voted on this month in the T-SPLOST Referendum. Because of the confusion and misinformation swirling around the T-SPLOST, I want to clarify some of the issues:

As mayor of Oakwood, I encourage voters to learn the facts about T-SPLOST and strongly consider its passage as a step toward sustaining economic growth in our community, Hall County and all of Northeast Georgia.

Back in early April The Times printed my letter encouraging people to recycle. I'm the guy who goes around Clermont picking up recyclables people throw out their vehicle windows, and this practice has allowed me to draw a few conclusions about litterers.

It seems that as I grow older I have much more difficulty understanding the minds of people. I read where the U.S. attorney general is conducting campaigns and legal action against several states for trying to impose voter identification programs to prevent voter fraud during our upcoming presidential elections. I also hear the cries that the policies the states are trying to implement are strictly race-based discrimination programs.

When most people think about our Independence Day, they think about a war fought and won, a nation created and stars and stripes. This is all well and good in the perception of remembrance because it is quite important. However, I would have to argue that it was more than that to our Founding Fathers. I would theorize that this day was symbolic of foresight and stewardship.

Fifty years ago, in January 1962, I wrote an editorial for the school newspaper of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, which I attended. It could have been written today, and with some updates, reads like this:

Brent Holloway's article about sharing the road with cyclists blames the biker for using the road they are entitled to and certainly helped pay for. Three feet of pavement on each side of a few roads in Hall and surrounding Northeast Georgia counties is not too much to ask for.

Our past and present Georgia governors and legislature have the responsibility of spending some of our tax dollars on Georgia roads. They have been allocating and spending nearly $2 billion per year. Additionally, our federal tax dollars are being spent on Georgia transportation.